I came down the hill with the sun at my back hoping to gain any advantage I could. The three riders prepared for my attack and turned their horses toward me. I looked past them and saw Njal trying to engage Sweyn; Njal was no fighter but was holding his own. I gripped the back of my horse with my knees and unleashed both my swords. It's 984 and in Scania and Norway, the old gods are being replaced by a new Christian God. Battles are raging for supremacy over Ireland, and Vikings are doing what they do best, plundering and taking to the high seas. But against all the political turmoil, private tragedies are playing out. Everyone loves Gull, especially women. When he is found dead and his friend Gunnar is covered in his blood, his friend Erik and Gull's older brother Harald vow revenge. Gunnar knows he's innocent, but cannot prove it, so he flees. But he knows Erik and Harald will never stop looking for him. And he is right. But as the years pass, Erik starts to think Gunnar might be innocent, and the killer closer at hand. Olaf Trygvasson is a fierce warrior, so fierce it freed he and his mother from slavery, where they were thrown after his father was killed. Now he wants to reclaim what is rightfully his, the Norwegian throne. But first, he needs some allies. When King Jarn of Dyflin holds an Althing, for men to come and declare why they should wed his sister, Queen Gyda, Olaf makes his way, thinking it would be good to have King Jarn on his side. But King Ivar of Waterford has designs on Dyflin, and a mighty battle is about to be waged, one that will change all their lives forever... The King of the Norse is book one in the story of Gunnar, a realistic account of life in Viking times. If you like historical fiction with a realistic edge, this book is for you.